Of Dragons and Horses
by Isella of the wolf tribe
Summary: When a dragon comes to Death City with a request, things get changed around greatly in the DWMA, now renamed the DWMSA with the acceptance of the dragon's request. With tons of new students, and old teams having to accept new members, things can get wacky. Very wacky.
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal day in Death City, the hot sun beating down on everyone's backs. School was in session at the DWMA, but it was lunch time. Tons of students were outside talking or eating their lunches. In a corner of the academy a fight had started, and many crowded around to see what'd happen. Everyone looked up as they felt a chill in the air as a large shadow passed overhead.

The wind flung in several directions as a large creature landed on the academy roof, it's wings spreading wide to help balance itself on the uneven surface. Several people screamed at the sight of the large beast as it let out a roar.

"Bring me the leader of this civilization!" A voice boomed in everyone in the area's heads. No one moved as the dragon spoke without moving it's lips. His lips curled into a snarl. "I need to speak with your master!" He said in a bit nicer voice. A couple people ran into the building. The dragon sat in silence for a bit. Finally a man with blue skin appeared, another white haired man with a screw in his head next to him. They came up to one of the taller patios nearer to the dragon. They held a large mirror up. The dragon looked into the mirror as a black form appeared.

"Haiya Mr. Dragon!" Lord Death said. The dragon bent his head down to look into the mirror.

"You may call me... Jacob. My real name is too difficult for non dragons." The dragon replied.

"Yes yes! Jacob. What is it? What brings cause of a large beast as yourself to come all the way here?"

"We are under attack in our homeland!" Jacob boomed. Lord Death interrupted him.

"Do you mind keeping it down a bit?" Jacob backed his head up a bit, startled. He nodded.

"Sorry," he said, much softer. "I would like to ask you if it would be alright if we send many of our little ones to your city for protection. With all the fighting all over, we don't want any of our kits to be harmed..."

Lord Death nodded. "Yes, I understand. But why here?" Jacob turned his head to the sky.

"Many of a time have we gone out, searching place to place our kits would be safe, but none have shown trust. Some have ran in fear, not listening to reason. Others have agreed, only to betray our trust and try to keep them as slaves or money makers. I hope that if you agree to helping protect our little ones, that you will keep your promise. You're our last hope." Lord Death thought for a moment.

"You have a deal!" He said, extending his hand out of the mirror. Jacob put a claw forward, which Lord Death shook.

"Although you must have something you'd like in return for giving them shelter?" Jacob asked. Lord Death shook his head.

"Only that they join the academy!" Lord Death replied. Jacob nodded. Sid and Stein led the mirror out of there. The dragon turned to leave, when a loud voice from behind interrupted him.

"Hey! Dragon dude!" Jacob turned back around to look at the obnoxious blue haired student standing on the middle spike. "I challenge you to a fight!" Jacob bent his head down, his eye coming eye to face with the student. His eye was as big as the boy.

"I do not fight little brats like you," he said. "Unless they are my enemy." He backed his head up a bit so his nose faced the boy. "I'd like to know your name, little boy. I'd like to know the name of the one who dared to challenge _me_ to a fight."

"I'm Black Star! The one who'll surpass God!" Black Star yelled, grinning. Jacob backed his head up and laughed, smoke coming from his nose. "What's so funny!?" Black Star yelled.

"Black Star, eh? I remember your father. He fought me to my limits. I would like to fight you one day too, boy. But for now I must return to my brood. Good luck on surpassing God." Jacob turned, pushing off and flapping, creating a giant gust of wind as he took off. He roared as he flew away.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day went by as normal, without disturbances. The next day though...

"Hey, Soul! Wake up! We're late!" Soul crawled out of bed, rather annoyed. He got dressed then ate a quick breakfast. Maka pulled him out of the door and raced towards the DWMA with him. As they got there, they stopped, staring at the people crowded around the academy doors. Maka spotted Kid and waved him over.

"What's up? What're all these people doing?" Maka asked.

"There's a notice on the doors. Apparently the academy's been renamed the DWMSA. Don't understand why. I'll have to ask my father about it later."

"DWMSA?" Soul asked. "What does the S stand for?"

"Steed." Kid replied. "It might have to do with the dragon my father spoke to yesterday."

"Yahoo!" Everyone looked up to see Black Star falling down towards them. He landed next to them. "Ahahaha! It's me, Black Star! The one who'll surpass God! Ahahaha!" Everyone face palmed. "What's this I hear about a name change?"

"The DWMA has been renamed DWMSA. S stands for steed." Maka replied. Tsubaki finally got over to the group, Liz and Patty in toe.

"So it's Death Weapon Meister _Steed_ Academy now?" Tsubaki asked. Kid, Soul, and Maka nodded.

"I guess," Soul replied. He looked up as he felt a chill in the air as a large shadow passed overhead. Everyone followed his gaze.

The wind flung everyone's hair and clothes around as a dragon landed on the patio in front of the academy. It brought it's wings together and walked forward, snorting black smoke rings into the air. The ends of it's wings clicked across the ground as they moved with the dragon's body. It's tail dragged and all four legs took big steps to avoid people too unfortunate to get too close.

Black Star smiled and walked a couple steps forward. "Hey!" The dragon looked down at Black Star. Black Star cracked his knuckles. "Ready to fight?" The dragon cocked it's head at him, then laid down on the ground. It laid it's wing down as several people slid off it's back, sliding down the thin, leathery skinned wing like a slide.

"Fight? I never challenged you to a fight." The voice in Black Star's head was female. "You must mean Jâkohëlexœabe. The one you know as Jacob. He's coming soon. My name is Vëxsëlæïn. You may call me Veseen." She was suddenly consumed in fire. Everyone freaked out as she seemed to disintegrate, but as the fire dispersed, a tall woman stood in the place of where the dragon once was. Her long red hair framed her face, shorter in the front, but long in the back. She smiled at Black Star, then stood with the others. She waved up at the sky as a shadow passed overhead.

Another dragon, this one obviously much bigger than Veseen, landed where she once was. _This_ one was Jacob. More people slid off his back, but everyone's attention was focused on a short, rusty red haired boy on top of Jacob's head. Jacob tossed his head, and the boy flipped off, eyes closed, and landed on the ground, creating a small crater. He rose, smiling, and rolled his shoulder, making it crack a little. He opened his eyes. He turned towards Jacob, who had annoyance in his eyes.

"Did you see that, father?" He asked. Jacob snorted, black smoke coming from his nose. The boy turned to look at the crowd, a big smile on his face. The smile disappeared into shock as he spotted Maka. He hurried over and grabbed her hand, bringing it up to his mouth.

"Yœk a äteœ fäñtï hêr petisë œë séñ. Your beauty is without words, Princess. My name is NèÏsæll. You may call me Neil. And you are?" Maka's face was absolutely red.

Kid's face was filled with shock, while Black Star, Liz, and Patty were cracking up. Tsubaki smiled, unsure of what was happening, while Soul...

Soul's face was filled with anger and jealousy.

"M-Maka." Maka replied.

"Maka. What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman." He kissed her hand. "I'll hope to see you later, Princess Maka." He let her hand go and went towards the others. His father, Jacob, had already turned human.

Kid walked over to the group and cleared his throat. "My name is Kid, son of Lord Death. Let me show you to the Death Room," he said, leading them into the academy.


	3. Chapter 3

The group led by Kid finally reached the Death Room. Kid stayed to the side while Jacob walked forward.

"It's nice to meet you in person, not through a mirror," Jacob said, nodding once.

"You too, Jacob!" Lord Death replied. "So, these are the ones who will be attending our school?" Jacob nodded.

"What exactly do you have planned for them? I'm sorry to sound so suspicious, but with how others have treated us in the past..."

"It's totally OK! I completely understand. You probably know that we have renamed the DWMA?" Jacob nodded.

"I heard students talking about it."

"Well, it is now called the Death Weapon Meister Steed Academy. I just added the S. Now, I know none of them are Meisters or Weapons, so I've labeled them Steeds. They will join in teams we already have and become part of the academy." Jacob nodded.

"You will need a teacher then," he said. Veseen walked forward. "This is Veseen, my mate. She is willing to be a teacher." Lord Death clapped his hands together.

"Wonderful! Thank you for volunteering your time, Veseen!" Veseen nodded.

"Not at all. I used to help teach the children at home. This job shouldn't be too much more difficult." She replied.

"Now, about the enrollment papers..." Lord Death started.

* * *

Everyone piled into the classroom. Maka looked around for Soul. Spotting him, she waved him over. He sat down next to her.

"What's got you all grumpy, Soul?" Maka asked.

"That Neil guy. I don't like him," Soul replied. Maka stayed quiet.

Finally, after a while, Stein walked in, several people in toe behind him. He faced the class.

"These are our new students. They will be joining us for a while until their home is safe." Stein turned to the new students. "Sit anywhere you'd like." The new students hurried to empty spots wherever they could find them. One boy, not so hasty, looked around, searching for someone. He scanned faces really fast, then saw her. Neil spotted Maka and hurried over, taking a seat next to her. She smiled at him. He kissed her hand. Soul gagged. Maka Maka-Chopped Soul.

When the noise had settled down, Stein spoke.

"Now, you all know how the DWMA has been renamed, correct? Well, the S, if you haven't heard already, stands for 'Steed.' A Steed will be added to your teams. They can be used as transportation, but will also help aid in fights. They also have one other ability, but I will leave that for another time.

"Now, as to who gets who, that is entirely up to the steed. They will get to choose their partners themselves. Steeds, choose wisely."

The rest of the day went pretty normal. Soul and Neil had little fights here and there, Soul always ending up with the burnt end of the stick, but other than that it was fine.

After school ended, Maka, Soul, and the rest of them went to town to walk around. Starting with normal school mission talk, their conversation shifted to steeds.

They were talking about them when Maka and Kid gave each other a knowing look, then stopped.

"Who's there!?" Maka yelled. A figure walked out of the shadows.

"You are quite observant, Maka," Neil said, walking towards the group.

"What do you want, Neil?" Soul asked with venom in his voice.

"Why do you hate me so? I never hurt you. I actually want to be friends with the people here. I haven't done anything to you." Soul turned away. "Ah, I see. You're jel-" he was cut off by Soul's glare. "We have a name for your type in our language. Hëxœ."

"What does that mean?" Maka asked, curious.

"One who longs, but takes no action." Neil replied.

"Do you have a word in your language for me?" Maka asked. Neil smiled.

"No word would describe how wondrous you are," he replied. "But I call you Yœk. It means Beautiful One."

"How do you say Princess?" Maka asked.

"Princess is œë séñ."

"And what you said to me before?"

"Yœk a äteœ fäñtï hêr petisë œë séñ?"

"Yeah, I think."

"It is what I had said. But literally translated it would be 'Beautiful one are you that which words cannot describe, Princess." Maka almost fainted.

"I wish I could learn dragon talk..." Maka mumbled.

"It might be hard, but it isn't impossible. I could teach you." Maka brightened even more.

"Oh, that would be so cool!" She said. Soul snorted.

"And our language is called Dïæcoûgïan, meaning 'air beast speech.'"

Kid cleared his throat. "Even though I enjoy our little chat, I am still wondering why you came here in the first place, Neil. I'm pretty sure it wasn't just to teach your language."

"Oh, yes. Maka, I came because I wanted to ask you: might I have the honor of being your steed?"


	4. Chapter 4

"What?!" Soul exclaimed.

"What's got you all mad?" Neil asked. "It's not like... Wait. Are you her weapon? Or she yours?" Soul nodded.

"I'm her weapon. Is that a problem?"

"No. Actually, that's great. We'll get to know each other better, and hopefully become friends. That is if Maka accepts?" Soul looked at Maka. He really didn't want Neil to be their steed. He really didn't have anything against the dude, he just didn't like how close he was to Maka.

Was Neil right? Was he just jealous? What was it he'd called him? Hëxœ? One who longs but takes no action. So uncool...

"Maka, might I suggest you accept?" Kid said. Maka looked at him. "With what the steeds are capable of, you'd be much more powerful a team. Plus, Neil seems like a very strong dragon. Am I correct?" Neil smiled and nodded.

"Jacob _is_ my father." He put in.

"Plus, you'd be the first to have a steed. You'd be able to train more than others." Maka thought, then looked at Soul.

"Soul, you're my weapon, so you have a say in this too. What do you think?" She asked. Soul looked at her, startled. He didn't expect her to ask his opinion. He expected her to say yes right away.

"Ugh, I don't care. Sure." Soul opened one eye and looked at Neil's outstretched hand.

"Shake?" Neil asked. Soul reached and took his hand. "I hope we can be good friends one day."

Neil continued walking with them until it was almost dark out, and everyone split ways.

"Um, hey, I was wondering if, well, since I'm your partner now, I could stay with you? For now all the steeds are sleeping outside, and we plan to stay with our partners when we get them." Maka nodded.

"We have a place you could sleep. The only rules would be to not tear anything up or torch anything." Neil smiled. "Oh, and watch out for our roommate, Blair. She's... Well... You'll see."

"That reminds me," Soul started. "I never saw your father or that woman, Veseen, leave."

"My father has taken to being Lord Death's steed. It quite surprised me. But I guess it's for the best. My mother-"

"Veseen's your mother?!" Maka gasped.

"Yeah. Jacob and Veseen are mates. Us dragons, like wolves, mate for life. I'm surprised that surprised you, Maka. Anyway, my mother is staying in one of the teacher's dorms. She's a new teacher at your DWMSA. She'll be teaching about steeds and helping those who have partnered up. I'm sure she'd love to also help you learn basic dragon speech."

They reached the house and pulled out a key, unlocking the door and walking in. Blair wasn't home.

"Blair's probably getting fish for free from town again..." Maka sighed.

Neil sat on the couch, falling asleep instantly. Soul walked over to the kitchen, it being his turn to cook dinner. Maka went to her room for a bit.

Neil awoke to a smell of bacon. Tons of bacon. He hopped off the couch and hurried into the kitchen, mouth watering. Maka was already sitting at the table, patiently waiting. Soul was at the stove, grilling the bacon. Neil sat next to Maka.

"Hey, Neil?"

"Yes, Yœk?" Maka giggled. Soul glanced back at them.

"That reminds me, how do you say Soul in... What did you call your language?"

"Dïæcoûgïan." Neil replied.

Maka had trouble pronouncing it, but finally got it. Neil grinned from ear to ear.

"That's it! Good job!" Maka blushed. "Soul is Ikãnüñ. Although if you want a name for your friend in our language, that word is not fit. Its literal meaning isn't what you want. For your friend, he would be called Hëxœ."

There it was, that word again. Soul hated that word.

"And how about Kid?" Maka asked. "What would he be called?" Neil smiled.

"He's Lord Death's son, correct?" Maka nodded. "He would be called œkàdëñ. That reminds me of the first thing I was going to teach you. When you are talking about a female, the accented letter would have a small mark above the vowel going forwards. A male would have the mark going backwards. For example, Princess is œë séñ it has the mark going forward on the e in sén. That makes it princess. Flip the mark to make the word œë _sèñ_ and the word becomes prince."

Maka soaked in everything he was telling her. Soul walked over, setting the plate of bacon on the table.

"Since you live at this house and are apart of this team now," Soul started. "You will have to cook dinner every once in a while. We all take turns. Tonight was my turn, tomorrow is yours. The next day will be Maka, then Blair, then back to me. Got it?" Neil nodded. While they were eating, Neil continued his lesson. This time, Soul was listening.

"Another thing, when you have a no, not, can't, won't, those type of words, they're all the same. Hêr. You put it into the sentence before the word you're saying the 'no' about. For example..." He trailed off. "Ah, here's a good example. Lëxœar cüñ ikæ shæmëñ. It means 'A lone wolf sleeping in the shadows.' When you put the hêr in, it turns into Lëxœar hêr cüñ ikæ shæmëñ, meaning 'A lone wolf _is not_ sleeping in the shadows.' Do you get it?"

Maka nodded, understanding what Neil was explaining.

"Last thing. A means are. We rarely use it in sentences, but when there is a you, we use a. It makes it 'you are' or 'are you', depending on the sentence." Maka nodded. She stood, the bacon gone, and yawned, stretched, and went to her room to sleep. Neil stood to go back to the couch.

"Dïæcoûgã Ikãnüñ." Soul said. Neil froze, then looked at Soul. He'd said the words dragon and soul perfectly. Neil smiled, then sat back down.

"Yes, that is how you pronounce it. I'm surprised you were able to say it on your first try. Unfortunately, dragon soul is one word. Dïæcoûnüñ. It is a different thing from the world, a different type of soul. That is why it is given it's own name." Soul nodded.

"How do you say friends?"

"Hëiön."

"What do you say?" Soul smiled, holding his hand out. "Hëiön?" Neil smiled, then shook his hand.

"Hëiön."


	5. Chapter 5

Soul was feeling much better in the morning as he got up and dressed. He walked out to see Neil making toast. Soul froze, watching how Neil made it.

Neil held the toast up and blew bits of fire at it, toasting it all the way through. He had tons of toast piled up already, on the table was already three places set and ready with two eggs each.

Neil brought the plate full of toast over to the table and sat, then stared at Soul for a bit. Soul sat down, poking at his egg, then eating it. He said nothing as he ate.

Maka came in seconds later. Neil stood.

"Good morning, Yœk. How did you sleep?" Maka smiled.

"Fine. You made all this?" Neil nodded.

"Have as much as you'd like." Maka sat and ate her food.

"It's good." She said. Soul nodded.

"I'm glad you like it!" Neil exclaimed.

"How do you say good morning? I want to surprise my friends," Maka asked Neil.

"In Dïæcoûgïan?" Neil asked. Maka nodded. "We normally just snort at each other, but the close dragons will say Kïnê."

"Kïnê..." Maka repeated. "OK. Thanks!"

They finished up and hurried to the school. People piled into the class. Maka spotted her friends and ran over before they had to be seated.

"Kïnê! How are you?" She said. Her friends stared at her with black expressions.

"Kïnê means good morning in Dïæcoûgïan, which is the language the dragons speak. Neil's teaching me, remember?" They nodded, surprised. She turned to look at the front of the class as Stein walked in, and quickly ran to her seat. "Bye!"

"OK, class, we have a couple announcements. First up, today you'll have a new teacher come in at the end of the day. You are not required to attend, but I would recommend that you do. She'll be teaching you some helpful skills.

"Also, we have our first team with a steed. I would suggest that you attend the seminar after class. It will help on your teamwork." Everyone started talking to see who the team was, but they quieted as the clicking and twisting sound of Stein's screw shut them up.

"Now, we have been able to determine what exactly the other ability the steeds have which will help you in your fighting. Using soul resonance, plus a soul link, the steeds can merge with the weapons to make an even more powerful weapon we call a soul-element weapon. The only problem is that it is hard to control, plus the steed and weapon have to be compatible with each other. It is more the weapon's fault if it doesn't work, since the weapon has to accept the steed."

Maka looked at Soul and Neil. Would they have a problem with this? She hoped not.

"Each steed will make a different soul-element weapon, so don't be surprised if it looks like something else you weren't expecting." Stein continued. "Now, the reason it is hard to control is because it takes a big toll on the Meister and Weapon's bodies. Since they aren't steeds, their bodies are not used to the elemental stress like the steeds are. This is something that the steeds have to be careful of. They, being used to the feel of their elemental abilities, don't know how much strain they're putting on their partners, so my suggestion would be to use next to nothing on the first try." He paused as he took out a cigarette and lit it.

"But I don't know that much about this subject, so if you want to learn more, speak to Mrs. Veseen. There are new missions on the board. Go check them out." Everyone hopped down and ran to the bulletin board. Neil put a hand on Soul's shoulder to stop him. Soul turned.

"What Mr. Stein said... I think it may be difficult. What about you? You're the weapon, so I'd be merging with you." Neil said. Soul looked at Maka.

"As long as Maka isn't hurt, I'll be fine. I'll be able to handle it. I'm just kind of concerned about you. Think you'd be able to keep your flames in check?" Neil laughed once.

"I won't guarantee anything. I've always been trained to be a fighter, so keeping my power low will be hard. But once you're used to it, we'll be kicking butt like crazy." Soul smiled.

"Cool," he said, then walked over to Maka.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, Soul, Neil, come here!" Maka yelled. The two called headed over to their Meister. "Look, we should sign up for this mission!" The two looked at the board she was pointing to, at a paper which had a fairly easy mission to get ahold of a special steel phoenix feather stolen by a treasure hunter.

"Sure," Neil and Soul said.

"Sounds cool. Let's sign up." Soul continued.

They signed up for the mission, then went back into the class. Stein waited until everyone was back in before he finished the class. At lunch everyone dispersed. Maka stayed in the class, as well as Soul and Neil. Neil had a chicken he'd gotten from his father (he found it on the doorstep of Maka's house with a congrats card) which he scarfed down. Maka was almost done when a woman walked into the room.

"Kïnë, Veseen, although it's not really morning anymore." Maka said. Veseen jumped, shocked, as she stared at Maka. "Neil's teaching me," Maka replied in answer to the question she knew was on Veseen's mind. Veseen nodded, then went back to work.

"You're learning well so far, Maka," Veseen said. "If you didn't smell human, one of us might mistake you for one of us pretty soon. Even so, after you learn more, one of our really young ones might confuse you as one of us. Spending as much time with Neil is getting his scent mixed with yours." Maka blushed a bit. Neil cleared his throat, feeling the uncomfortable feeling coming from Soul and Maka.

"So, Mother, it seems like we're the only ones in your class right now. Do you know if anyone else is coming?"

"I hope so," Veseen replied. Seconds later, her hopes came true, and Kid, Black Star, and their weapons walked in, as well as some steeds. They sat down.

Veseen looked at the clock, about to start, when more students walked in. Veseen smiled, welcoming them, then started once they sat down.

"You learned the basics from Professor Stein today, correct?" Everyone nodded. "Well, I'm here to clarify and answer any questions you may have. First off, not only Dïæcoûgã, or dragons as you call us, came with the group of steeds, if you could tell. Some of the steeds here are Nemänï, Kumärïänï, and Sëmîañ, which are in your language Unicorn, Pegasus, and the mix of the two, Unegasis.

"Today, I'll be continuing Professor Stein's speech on the soul-element weapons. First I will talk about the elemental categories, then compatibility and strength. Lastly I will start on the lesson I will be giving tomorrow afternoon.

"There are seven different categories that your soul-element weapon can be in. They are healing, light, air, fire, ice, purification, and earth. Depending on what creature your steed is, they will have different elements. Most of you steeds already know what category you are in.

"The Unicorn steeds have the healing, light, purification, and earth abilities, their most common being the purification and their least common being the earth, while the Pegasus steeds have the healing, light, air, and purification abilities, most common being the air and least common being the healing. The Unegasis steeds have both healing, light, air, purification, and earth abilities the most common being the healing and the least common being the earth. The Dragon steeds have the air, fire, and ice abilities, the most common being the fire the least common being the ice. Does everyone understand?" Everyone nodded.

"Now, when a steed combines to create a soul-element weapon, they are basically giving their soul, mind, and body up. If they hesitate or are too dominate, they will have a very hard time combining. When they combine, it also opens their hearts to their Meister. This is why we want everyone to be friends with each other. That is the steeds part. Once they get over that, it's all up to the Weapon. If the Weapon is unwilling to share them self or doesn't fully accept the steed as a part of him, there will be a reaction when the steed will try to merge but will be rejected and flung back. This will hurt the steed, send a shock through the Weapon, but the Meister will be unaffected.

"You have to be careful who's being the dominate one. The Weapon is bringing in the steed, not the other way around.

"Tomorrow I will be teaching about their forms. I will be around if you need help, training tips, or have any questions. Any questions right now?"

Maka and Kid raised their hands. Maka was called first.

"Will we be doing any in class training?" She asked. Veseen smiled.

"Yes, but only when I have a bunch of students who can use it. I am willing to help anyone who needs the extra training after school, though." Kid was called next.

"What would happen if the Weapon tried to merge with the steed instead of the correct way?" He asked.

"Have you ever seen what happened if a Weapon tried to merge with their Meister?" Veseen asked. Kid started to shake his head, then nodded.

"I've seen something like it, but not exact."

"Something like that will happen, but a much more severe reaction, not to mention the weapon will be hurt afterwards and the steed will be in pain." Kid nodded. "Anything else?" No one moved. "Class dismissed." Almost everyone left. Maka, Soul, and Neil stayed.


	7. Chapter 7

Black Star and Tsubaki walked to the training grounds.

"That was some seminar, quick and to the point," Tsubaki said.

"Yeah, I guess." Black Star replied.

"Did you even listen?" Black Star grinned.

"Nope." Tsubaki sighed.

They finally reached the training grounds. Tsubaki stood back as Black Star started training without her.

"Tsubaki!" Black Star called. Tsubaki ran over, turning into her weapon form. "Enchanted Sword mode!" Black Star said. Tsubaki complied, turning into the Enchanted Sword.

For a bit, Black Star and Tsubaki trained, but the Enchanted Sword mode took its toll, and they had to stop. They sat in silence when they heard a twig snap.

Black Star shot up. "Who's there? Come out and show yourself!" A small head peeked around a tree in front of them. The little girl had short brown hair in the front and long hair in the back with light blue tips. She looked around 11.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to spy! I just heard you practicing, and I wanted to watch..." She said.

"It's OK!" Tsubaki exclaimed.

"Yeah! Anyone's allowed to watch Black Star train! You're witnessing the power of the one to surpass God himself! Ahahaha!"

"No, it's not OK! I'm not even supposed to be here! Please don't tell anyone you saw me? I'll get in trouble..."

"You're... Not supposed to be here? What do you mean?" Tsubaki asked.

"I-" she paused. "I snuck aboard... I wasn't supposed to come... Only the three main species and the mixes... If they find out I'm here, I'll get in big trouble! It wasn't my choice even... My mother told me to go. She said I'd be safe... But I don't feel safe. I'm always watching out for people discovering me... And now you've seen me. Why am I even telling you this?! Oh..." She hid back behind the tree.

Black Star peeked around the tree at her. "We won't tell anyone!" He hit his chest. "Ole Black Star will make sure you're OK!" The girl looked at him.

"Really?" Tsubaki looked around at her too.

"Yup!" Tsubaki said. "Just tell us... What exactly do you mean by what you were saying? Are you one of the steeds?" The girl nodded.

"That's what I've heard we're called."

"Are you a dragon?!" Black Star yelled.

"No. As I said... I'm a somewhat illegal immigrant..."

"So what are you? If you're not one of the four types that came that people know about..." Tsubaki asked.

"I'm... What the dragons call the Sëmîañ. It's the same name as the mix of the two... What do you call them again? Oh yeah. Unegasis. It literally means mutt, I think. I'm not exactly sure what you call us in your language, though."

"Can you tell us what you are a mix of? We might know." Tsubaki said.

"Sure, but it might be better to show you." She started to transform. Her mouth turned into a beak, then feathered wings sprouted from her back. Her hands turned into claws while her feet turned into hooves and she went on all fours. She was as big as a small horse.

Tsubaki smiled. "You're what we call a Hippogriff."


	8. Chapter 8

"What the heck is a hippogriff?" Black Star asked.

"That." Tsubaki said, motioning towards the girl in her creature form. Black Star frowned. "She's a combination of a griffin and a horse." Black Star looked at the hippogriff. "They're supposed to be bred for speed and strength, and the ability to be like horses. They're rare, since horses and griffins really don't like each other." The hippogriff was surrounded by wind as she turned back human. She held out her hand.

"I'm Gretchen," she said. "And I want to be your steed." Black Star smiled. Gretchen flinched, thinking she'd said something wrong. "I-I mean, I really like how fast you are... And, well... I heard people talking... And I- I don't know what I'm saying." Black Star took her hand.

"Sure." He said. "But first we need to get you better clothes! We can't have you walking around next to me like that! Ahahaha! Tsubaki!" Tsubaki flinched. "Lend her some of your clothes!" Tsubaki nodded, then ran off, pulling Gretchen. Black Star stayed and trained. After a bit the two girls finally got back. Black Star smiled at his new steed.

Her hair matched with a black dress with blue tint on the ends of the loose sleeves and bottom. The blue was the same shade as both her and Black Star's hair. On her neck was a necklace with a star on it.

"*Now* you look worthy of being one of my team! Ahahaha!" Gretchen looked at Tsubaki, who only smiled. Gretchen blushed, smiling too.

Back at the academy Maka, Soul, and Neil were getting tips on fighting.

"If we practice hard enough, would it be possible to use-" Maka was cut off.

"As I said, Maka, I cannot give you any more tips. I'd love to help more, but we only know about the stuff Lord Death and Jacob have accomplished so far. Other than that, you'll have to figure out the rest of the stuff on your own. But no, so far Lord Death hasn't figured out a way to use his normal attacks with the soul-element weapon, if that's what you were asking."

Maka nodded. "OK. Bye! Thanks for the tips! Common, Soul, Neil, let's go practice!" They nodded and followed her out. They exited the building and walked down the steps, when they spotted a mop of blue hair.

"Hey! Black Star!" Soul yelled. Black Star turned to look their way, then headed on over. Following behind him was Tsubaki and a girl they'd never seen before...

The girl tried to hide as they got closer to each other. "Hey!" Black Star yelled. "Guess who has a steed now!" Maka smiled.

"Cool," Maka replied. "Good for you. Is that her hiding behind Tsubaki?" Neil made a small noise, drawing some's attention.

"Gretchen? Is that you?" He asked. Gretchen hid even more, pulling on Tsubaki's clothes tighter. He sighed. "You weren't supposed to come. But I guess there's no point in sending you back now."

"So you won't tell?" Gretchen asked. Neil sighed. Maka tapped his shoulder.

"I don't think it's _that_ big of a deal," she said. "Plus, she's Black Star's steed now. I think that's a good reason she should stay."

"I really think my father should know, but since you asked, Maka, I will let this slide. For you, not for her or your friend." Maka smiled.

"Thank you, Neil,"


	9. Please read!

**Hey, my fellow readers! I'm so sorry I haven't posted any more chapters. I had the files already written, but they're saved on my Nexus, which unfortunately fell and broke. Once I get it fixed then I'll be able to post all the way to chapter 14!**

**Meanwhile, check out my illustrations for the story on Deviantart! The creator name is IsellaHowler.**

**And, as an I'm sorry, I have a special challenge! If you submit a good, hand drawn and colored picture of at least one of the following, I'll give you a prize. You get to choose of the prizes as follows. Either 1) a sneak preview into the steeds and who their meisters are, 2) a special picture/illustration done from whichever scene you choose from a chapter that's already posted, 3) a hand in the ending plot, or 4) An entire poem written in Dïæcoûgïan by Neil that you get to choose the topic of, and only you and whoever you want to have knowledge of it gets the translation.**

**_1) Neil: He has short, scruffy, red hair_****_(Think Sasori from Naruto)_****_Red eyes, long nails hands and feet. He doesn't wear shoes. His clothes are an open, black leather jacket with torn sleeves that reaches to his stomach in the back but goes a bit longer in the front. He doesn't wear a shirt. His pants are a tanish red color and baggy. They reach down to his ankles and are pulled tight around them._**

**_2) Gretchen: Her hair is somewhat like crona's, but the underhair in the back is longer, to her butt. It is a slate grey color with bluish tint at the bottom of the longer hair and shorter hair in the front. Her eyes are black. She wears a black, turtleneck dress with slits on both sides to her hips with a blueish tint at the bottom of the skirt and sleeves. The sleeves are to her wrists and are a little loose. under the dress is wrappings around her legs near the top. Her shoes are off white boots with black around the ankles. She has a necklace with a star on it._**

**_3) Veseen and Jacob: Veseen has long red hair, somewhat wavy, past her butt. Her ears are a little pointed. In front of her ears her hair reaches to her hips and has little balls at the end as decoration. Her eyes are red. She wears a light red Chinese hanfu with darker red underneath and a dragon print on it. Her shoes are like little red slippers. Jacob has a bit past shoulder length orange hair and icy blue eyes. He also has bangs that sway the left side of his face. He wears a red jacket with a collar, a white tee-shirt, and orange pants with red and yellow flames up the sides. He wears no shoes._**

**_Thank you!_**


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